TheD,[a] formerly known as theMedia–Sharon Hill Line (MSHL) and numbered 101 and 102 (to Media and to Sharon Hill, respectively), is alight rail line in theSEPTA Metro network serving portions ofDelaware County, Pennsylvania. The line comprises two services which terminate at69th Street Transit Center inUpper Darby Township, Pennsylvania:D1 toMedia andD2 toSharon Hill. Service is operated by theSuburban Transit Division of theSoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Altogether, the two services operate on approximately 11.9 miles (19.2 km) of route.[5] The line is one of the few remaininginterurban systems in the United States, along with theSouth Shore Line in Illinois and Indiana, theRiver Line in New Jersey, and theNorristown High Speed Line, also in the Philadelphia area.
Along with theNorristown High Speed Line, formerly thePhiladelphia and Western Railroad, the routes are the remaining lines of theRed Arrow Lines Trolley System once operated by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (successor to thePhiladelphia and West Chester Traction Company); some local residents still call them "Red Arrow".
The line uses 29Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock CompanyType K LRV cars similar to those used on theT. However, unlike the city cars, the Type K cars on the D1 and D2 are double-ended and usepantograph collection instead oftrolley poles.
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| Route | Length[6] | South Terminal | North Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 (Formerly Route 101) | 8.6 miles (13.8 km) | Media Orange Street at State Street | Upper Darby 69th Street Transit Center |
| D2 (Formerly Route 102) | 5.3 miles (8.5 km) | Sharon Hill Sharon Hill |
The D1 and D2 run together on their exclusiveright-of-way in Upper Darby toDrexel Hill Junction for approximately 2 miles (3.2 km), at which point they diverge.
D1 continues on its own right-of-way traveling west and southwest throughDrexel Hill andSpringfield with an important stop at theSpringfield Mall before entering the street in Media. The D1 has double tracks to Woodland Avenue, then a single track to just beforePine Ridge, then enters the street atProvidence Road in Media and runs on a single track the rest of the way. Cars in the street must yield to the trolley. The line terminates in the middle of the street just west of the Delaware County Courthouse.
D2 runs southeast fromDrexel Hill Junction throughDrexel Hill andClifton Heights and then goes into the street inAldan. AfterAldan, it returns to its own right-of-way, then passes throughCollingdale before terminating atChester Pike in Sharon Hill. The D2 has double tracks until up toNorth Street in Collingdale, where the D2 returns to its own right-of-way, and after North Street, there is a single track until the end of the line.
Springfield Road has one stop on each line. D1 stops atSpringfield Road in Springfield. D2 stops at Springfield Road inClifton Heights, then runs within this street until it moves onto Woodlawn Avenue through Aldan.
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The Sharon Hill Line (D2) was originally built by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, and opened on March 15, 1906, and the Media Line (D1) was originally built by the same company, opening on April 1, 1913.[7] The lines were later bought by the Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company in 1954.
Besides D1 and D2, there were also two other, now defunct, Red Arrow trolley lines. The direct ancestor of theSEPTA Route 104 bus line went toWest Chester, splitting off from the rest of the system right after what is now the69th Street Transit Center ontoWest Chester Pike. The tracks continued all the way up West Chester Pike. West Chester trolleys were replaced by buses in 1954 due to widening of West Chester Pike; rush-hour trips to Westgate Hills lasted until 1958. Tracks remained in use for access to the Red Arrow's carbarn inLlanerch until SEPTA closed the barn in 1971; all tracks were soon removed except for a portion near 69th Street that SEPTA occasionally uses to store out-of service trolleys. The other now-defunct Red Arrow trolley line went toArdmore until December 1966. It split from the West Chester line at Llanerch and continued on its own exclusive right-of-way. Much of the right-of-way still remains between Schauffele Plaza in Ardmore (the former terminus of the line) and Eagle Road in Havertown, although the tracks were removed and the right-of-way paved for dedicated use by the replacement bus line, nowSEPTA Route 103. The 103 still uses this private right-of-way, although much of its other street routing has changed.
On April 1, 2020, service on the then-Route 102 was suspended while the then-Route 101 wassubstituted with buses due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Trolley service on both routes resumed June 1, 2020.[8][9][10]
In 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro", to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, the Media and Sharon Hill lines would have been rebranded as the "D" lines (for "Delaware", the county in which the trolley routes are located) with a pink color and numeric suffixes for each service. The 101 and 102 were to respectively be rebranded as the D1 69th St / Orange St and D2 69th St / Sharon Hill.[11][12] After a period of public comment, SEPTA revised its plans to primarily refer to the line as the "D," the services as simply "D1" and "D2", as well as to rethink the name of the then-Route 101's "Orange Street" terminal station name.[13]
In 2023, SEPTA awardedAlstom Transportation the contract to furbish 130 new low-floor trolleys, with an option for 30 more. The trolleys will be of Alstom's Citadis family and will be 80 feet in length and fullyADA-compliant, which the current Kawasaki trolleys from the early 1980s are not.[14] The trolleys will be distributed among the D1 and D2 in Delaware County, and its subway-surface lines and G trolley in neighboring Philadelphia. The first trolley is expected to be delivered from Alstom in the Spring of 2027, with the last trolley to be delivered sometime in 2030.
WithSEPTA Trolley Modernization in progress,SEPTA is proposing to extend the D2 toDarby Transit Center. This extension would connect the D2 with theT3 andT4.
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Media is the western terminus of the D1 trolley line just west of the Orange Street intersection with State Street, the latter of which the trolley runs down the center line. Despite being located in the town, there is no direct connection to theMedia station of theMedia/Wawa Line which is a mile to the south on Orange Street and partly through a wooded area.
| Location | Station/stop | Connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 (Media branch) | |||
| Media | Orange Street/Media |  SEPTA Suburban Bus:110 | Route D1 western terminus |
| Veterans Square | |||
| Olive Street | |||
| Jackson Street | SEPTA Suburban Bus:118 | ||
| Monroe Street | |||
| Edgemont Street | |||
| Manchester Avenue | |||
Providence Road/Media | Begin right-of-way and two-track operation Formerly known as Bowling Green | ||
| Beatty Road | |||
| Springfield | Pine Ridge | Tracks converge east of here | |
| Paper Mill Road | Serves Smedley Park SEPTA's least used station[15][16] | ||
| Springfield Mall | SEPTA Suburban Bus:107,109,110 | Formerly known as Sproul Road | |
| Thomson Avenue | |||
| Woodland Avenue | Resume two-track operation east of here | ||
| Leamy Avenue | |||
| Saxer Avenue | |||
| Brookside–Springfield | |||
| Scenic Road | |||
| Drexel Hill | Drexeline | ||
| Drexelbrook | |||
| Anderson Avenue | |||
| Aronimink | |||
| School Lane | |||
| Huey Avenue | |||
| D2 (Sharon Hill branch) | |||
| Sharon Hill | Chester Pike/Sharon Hill | SEPTA Suburban Bus:114,115 | Route D2 western terminus |
| Collingdale | MacDade Boulevard | SEPTA Suburban Bus:113 | Formerly known as Collingdale |
| Andrews Avenue | |||
| Bartram Avenue | Located at Woodlawn and Bartram Avenues;[17] located north of the historic former St. Joseph Parish Elementary School, which was converted into a retirement community.[18] | ||
| North Street | Tracks leave right-of-way and merge with Woodlawn Avenue north of here | ||
| Aldan | Magnolia Avenue | ||
| Providence Road | |||
| Shisler Avenue | Station closed on March 15, 2010 | ||
| Clifton Heights | Clifton–Aldan |  SEPTA Regional Rail: | Tracks transition onto Springfield Road |
| Springfield Road | Tracks leave Springfield Road for right-of-way south of here | ||
| Penn Street | |||
| Baltimore Avenue | SEPTA Suburban Bus:109 | ||
| Drexel Hill | Creek Road | Located in Indian Rock Park Formerly known as Oakview | |
| Marshall Road | |||
| Drexel Manor | |||
| Garrettford | |||
| D1 & D2 (common section) | |||
| Drexel Hill | Drexel Hill Junction | SEPTA Suburban Bus:107 | Also known as Shadeland Avenue Routes D1 and D2 diverge west of here |
| Irvington Road | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service | ||
| Drexel Park | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service Also called Fairfax Road | ||
| Upper Darby | Lansdowne Avenue | SEPTA Suburban Bus:107,115 | |
| Congress Avenue | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service | ||
| Beverly Boulevard | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service Formerly known as Beverly Hills | ||
| Hilltop Road | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service | ||
| Avon Road | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service Formerly known as Bywood | ||
| Walnut Street | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service | ||
| Fairfield Avenue | Bypassed by D1 rush hour express service Tracks merge with street east of here | ||
| 69th Street Transit Center |  SEPTA Metro:   SEPTA City Bus:21,30,65SEPTA Suburban Bus:103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,120,123,126 | ||
An early city ordinance prescribed that all tracks were to have a gauge of 5' 21⁄4".
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